Montaigne Fled the Plague, and Found Himself

Montaigne is one of my heroes!

I wouldn't recommend all of the essays, but you can get abridged editions with a collection of the most interesting and applicable ones, and I would recommend those to anybody. They're broad-minded, rigorous, and incredibly humane.

Fun fact: Montaigne is one of the few authors we know Shakespeare had read, since The Tempest basically quotes him.

I thoroughly recommend Sarah Blakewell's biography of Montaigne. It's brilliantly written, fascinating, and never boring.

  https://www.amazon.com/How-Live-Montaigne-Question-Attempts/dp/1590514831